Tire inflater



Sept 8, 1942- J. J. ROTHWELL 2,295,237v

TIRE INFLATER Filed Nov. 4, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sept A3, 1942- J. J. RoTHwl-:LL' 2,295,237

TIRE INFLATER FiledNov. 4, '1940 2 sheets-'sheet 2 Patented Sept. 8, 1942 UNITEDSTATES PATENT QFFICE- TIRE INFLATER John J; aotnweu, Elkhart, ma., assigner to Penn Goshen, Ind., a corpora.- I

Electric Switch Co., tion of'lowa Application November 4, 1940, Serial No. 364,274 6 Claims. (Cl. 22173.5)

My invention relates to a. tire inflater wherein means is provided to prevent cycling of the type of tire inator which charges a tire by shots or in cycles.

One object of the invention is to provide a simple, durable and inexpensive means which can be readily applied to the type of tire inater shown in Shaw patent', No. 2,194,129, to support the tire hose and utilize the weight 4of the hose prevent cycling of th'e tire inpart pointed out as the description of the invention progresses. In the. detailed description of the invention, reference will be made tothe ac# companying drawings wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views thereof.

In said drawings:

Figure l is a vertical sectional View through a tire inflater casing showing the tire inater therein and my stop mechanism applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the tire inater omitting the casing and viewed-from the right side of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating I the various elements of the tire inflater in their relation to each other, together with my stop mechanism cooperating therewith to facilitate description of the operation of th'e inater and the stop mechanism, and

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional -view on the line 4-4 of Figure 2 showing further details of coaction between parts of the tire inater and my improvement.

The tire inater includes a base plate I6 and va. cover plate'I2 therefor. The baseplate and l cover plate are assembled relative to each other` as by screws I3, with a sheet of rubber or other suitable exible composition- I4 interposed between them. The sheet I4 serves as a gasket between the plates and as cycling and gauging diaphragms indicated at I6 and I5, respectively. The cover plate I2 is provided with a pair of recesses I8 and I1 forming, respectively, a. cycling diaphragm chamber and a gauging d iaphragm chamber.

Referring to Figure 3, a cycling valve I9 4and an air admission valve 20 are provided. Springs 2| and 22 bias the valves I9 and 20 to a normally seated position as illustrated.

For operating the valves I9 and 20, stems 23 'riga and 24l Aare provided. A packing nut 25 is adapted to retain packing 26 in the base plate I0 lsurrounding the stem 24.

An inlet conduit 21 communicates with the inlet sides of the valves I9 and 20 and is adapted to receive'compressed air from a compressed air tank or the like as generally found at an automobile service station. Connections 28 and 29 serve as a means of communication between the cycling valve I9 and the cycling diaphragm chamber I8, and between the gauging valve 20 and the gauging diaphragm chamber I1, respectively. The gauging diaphragm chamber I1 has an outlet pipe 30 with which is connected a On th'e outer end of the tire hose tire hose 3|. the usual tire chuck 32 is provided with a self contained check valve 33 for coaction with the tire valves of automobile tires to be serviced. The cycling diaphragm chamber I8 is provided with a vent opening 34 to atmosphere.

Connected with the stems 23 and 24 are V cam levers 35 and 36 pivotally'supported at 31 and 38, respectively, in an upstanding n 39 of the base plate I0. The pivotal connectionis such that .the -cam levers 35 and 36 permit the valves I9,

and 20 to close when thepvotal connections of.

the stems 23 and 24 to the cam levers move upwardly. Opening of the valves is effected when the pivotal connections move downwardly by counterclockwise and clockwise rotation, respectively, of the cam levers 35 and 36. The cam levers 35 and 36 are limited in their swinging motion by stop pins 46 and. 4I received in enlarged openings 42 and 43 of the cam levers, 1

The cam levers 35 and 36 are adapted to be operated by cam rollers 44 and 45 carried by links 46 and 41 and held in engagement with'the camj surfaces on the upper ends of the levers by springs 48 and 49. 'Ihe links 46 and '41 are connected by a pivot pin'50 (two of which are shown diagrammatically in Figure 3 to simplify the showing) carried by a cycling bell crank 5I. The bellcrank 5I is pivoted on a pin 52 supported by a boss 53 extending upwardly from the base plate III. The short end of the bell crank lever 5I is held in contact with a follower pin 54 of a, follower iplate 55 pressed against the vcycling diaphragm 6 by a cycling spring 56.

In addition to the roller 44, a link 51 is provided for operating the cam lever 35. One end of the link 51 is pivoted at 58 to the .cam lever and the other end has a slot 59 straddling a headed pinI 60 extending from a second bell crank lever 6I. The lever 6I is pivoted on a. pin 62 carried by a boss 63 of the base plate II). The.

--of the lever 18 loosely receives. a

threaded rod 68v and a nut 69 are provided. The nut 69 is mounted in one end of the spring 66 and has a pin traversing a slot 1I to permit longitudinal, but prevent rotational, movement of the nut 69 when the adjusting crank 61 is rotated. The rod 68 of course is fixed relative to the crank 61 and there-rotates relative to `the nut 68.

The tire inater thus far described is supported in a casing C having a back cover plate 12. Dial mechanism, indicated generally at 14, is adapted to be operated by the crank 61 to indicate the settingfor the tire any desired pressure to be delivered by the tire chuck 32. The dial mechanism 14 may be observed through a transparent .cover or insert 15 in the casing C.

My speciflc improvement includes the mechalnism which will now be described. A stop pin 16 is slidable in a boss 11of the fin 39. The/stop pin is positioned as shown in Figur 4, so that normally it isdn the full line position, but at times may assume the dotted position for preventing vfurther movement of the cam lever toward the right as viewed in Figure 4.

A bell crank lever 18 is pivoted in ears 19 extending from the base plate III. The upper end portion of the pin 16 between a pair of stop washers 8ll-there on. The' lower end of the bell crank lever 16 is provided with a weight 8l projecting to a point where it may be engaged by a tire hose supporting hook 82 when it is in the solid line raised position of Figure 1.

The tire supporting hook 82 is pivoted at 83 to a. bracket 84 and is normally biased to its lraised position by a spring 85. .One end of the spring 85 is anchored to a rivet 86 through the casing C, and the other end thereof is connected with a perforated ear 81 of the tire supporting hook 82. The hook 82 has a ,stop extension 88 engageable with a stop shoulder 89 of the casing C.

Practical operation iniiater when adjusted for- Referring to Figure 3, the tire chuck 32 when 45 connected to-a tire allows air to pass to the tire if the pressure in the tire is. less than the setactuating the lever 35 through the pin 58. Such operation occurs onlyif the pressure against the diaphragm l5 is lowered to less thanthe setting o f the range spring 66. A

As a result, the spring 48 pulls the roller 44 downwardly along the right hand incline of the cam lever 35, thus rotating the cam lever counterclockwise and opening the cycling valve I9. Such counterclockwise rotation of the cam lever is permitted by the slot and pin connection at 59-- 60. Tank pressure from the line 21 `then iiows past-the cycling valve I9 through the connection 28 to I8. The vent at 34 permits escape of the air from under the cycling diaphragm I6, but the escape s restricted so` that -pressure builds up andthe diaphragm flexes upwardly to spring the bell crank 5| counterclockwise away from a stop pin 13 and against the bias of the spring 56.

The roller thereafter -passes over the crest ofthe V cam lever 36, thereby swinging the cam lever clockwise to open the air admission valve 28. Air under tank pressure then passes the valve 20 and flows through the connection 29, gauging diaphragm chamber I1, pipe 30, tire hose 31, tire chuck 32 and check valve 33 to the tire. A time period after the roller 45 passes the crest of the cam lever 36, the roller 44 will pass the crest of the cam lever 35, traveling in a lefthand direction because the bell crank 5I is steadily moving toward the left, due to the pressure being built up under the diaphragm I6. The timing period will be determined by the size of the vent opening 34.

The passage of the roller 44 to the left over.

the crest of the' cam lever 35 causes the cam lever to swing clockwise, thus again closing the cycling valve I9. This stops the iiow of compressed air to the cycling diaphragm I6 and the air escapes from the cycling diaphragm chamber I8 through the vent 34 to atmosphere. rI'he resulting reduction" in -the pressure under the cycling diaphragm permits the bell crank 5I to be rotated clockwise by the spring 56. The rollers 44 and 45 are thereby forced in a right hand direction toward the crests of the cams 35 and 36. The roller 45 first passes the'crest of the cam lever 36, whereupon the cam lever is turned counterclockwise and permits the air admission valve 20 to close.

While the valve 28 is open, air flows through the tire chuck 32 to the tire and the pressure under the gauging diaphragm I5 rises above the pressure for which the spring 66 is adjusted. If, afterthe .valve 20 closes, the pressure under the diaphragm I5 decreases to less than the setting of the spring 66, then the diaphragm I5 will be depressed by the spring and the cam lever 35 will swing counterlockwise under the roller 44 to initiate another cycle. The cycles, of course, will be repeated until the tire is satisfied and the pressure will be ymeasured by the diaphragm I6 while the valve 20 is closed.

During the measuring operation, air flow decreases to zero and fluid resistance in the conduit system including the elements 32, 3I and 30 is negligible so that the diaphragm responds accurately to the tire pressure. If the tire rpressure does not decrease below the setting of the spring 66, then the bell crank 6I will remain in its clockwise position of Figure 2 with a stop screw 90 thereof spaced -from a stop boss 9| and there will be no further shots of air.

After the tire is iilled, if the parts 16 to 89 are not provided there is a possibility of the tire inflater continuing to recycle. Such recycling occursvif there is even a slight leak inithe hose 3| or any of the parts on the outgoing side of the air admission valve 20. A signal gong 92, actuated by a striker 93, isv usually provided, the striker in turn -being operated by any movable part of the mechanism, such as the cam lever /36. Such recycling will undesirably ring the gong, in addition to there being waste of air. Accordingly I provide the stop pin 16 which, when the tire hose 3l is hung on the supporting hook 82 (as shown by dotted lines in Figure 1), will the cycling diaphragm chamber be biased toward the dotted -position of Figure 4. It the cam lever 35 happens to be swung counterclockwise (to the right in Figure 4, as shown by dotted lines), then the stop pin 16 will merely rest against it under the bias of the weight 8l. When during the recycling operation the cam lever 35 swings to the left far enough, then the weight 8l will eiect sliding of the stop pin 16 vto its dotted position in Figure 4 to prevent any further cycling. Such position is shown in Figure 3, and it will be noted that the cycling valve IS is in closed position so that there'will be no cycling operation. Also, the air admission valve 20 is in its closed position. Even though there is a reduction of pressure in the tire hose 3l to substantially atmospheric pressure, there will be 'as already described.

. Having described one specic embodiment of my invention together with the operation thereof, I desire it to .be understood that this form is selected merely for the purpose of facilitating disclosure of the invention'rather than for the purpose of limiting the number of forms which it may assume. It is to be further understood that various modifications, adaptations and alterations may be applied to the specific form disclosed to meet the requirements of practice without in any manner departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention except as set forth in the claims appended hereto.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. In a tire inater, cycling and gauging diaphragms, chambers therefor, a tire hose connected with said gauging diaphragm chamber, cycling and air admission valves between a source of air supply and said cycling and gauging diaphragms respectively, mechanism for operatively connecting said diaphragms to said valves, said mechanism including a `pair of `V over roller devices, one of said devices being operable from one position to another by reduction of the air pressure in said tire hose and consequent movement of said gauging diaphragm, a stop pin for said one of said devices before it changes from said one position to said another position, land a supporting hook for said tire hose operatively connected With said stop pin to move it to stop position upon supporting said tire hose on said hook.

2. A tire inater comprising cycling and gauging diaphragms, chambers therefor, a tire hose connected with said gauging diaphragm chamber, cycling and air admission valves between a source of air supply and said cycling and gauging diaphragms respectively, mechanism for operatively connecting said diaphragms to said valves, said mechanism including a pair of snap acting devices, one of said devices being operable from one position to another by reduction of the air pressure against, and resultant movement of, said gauging diaphragm, a stop pin for said one of said devices before it changes from said one position to said another position, and a movable support for said tire hose operatively connected with said stop pin to move it to stop position upon said tire hose being supported on said support. y

3. -In a tire iniiater, a gauging diaphragm, a chambertherefor, a tire hose connected with said chamber, an air admission valve for said chambenmechanlsm for operatively connecting saiddiaphragm to said valve, said mechanism including a snap acting device, said device being operable from one position to another by movement of said diaphragm due to reduction of the air pressurel in said tire hose, a stop pin for said device before it changes from said one position to said another position, and a movable, spring raised support for said tire hose.

operatively connected with said stop pin to move it to stop position upon supporting the weight of said tire hose on said support.

4. A tire iniiater including a gauging diaphragm, a chamber therefor, a tire hose connected with said gauging diaphragm chamber,v

an air admission valve forsaid chamber, mechanism for operatively connecting said diaphragm to said valve, said mechanism including a snap acting device which is operatedfrom one position to another position by movement of said diaphragm due to reduction of air pressure in said tire hose, a stop pin for said device before it changes from said one position to said another position, a pivoted arm carrying said stop pin, said arm being weighted to bias the pin toward stop position, a pivoted supporting hook for said tire hose, a spring biasing said hook upwardly,

the Weight of said tire hose, when on said hook, lowering the hook against such bias, said supporting hook, when the hose is removed therefrom, engaging said pivoted and weighted arm to move said Vpin to non-stopping position with relation to said device.

5. In a tire inflater apparatus, a pair of diaphragm mechanisms, uid pressure supply means connected therewith, a tire hose communicating with a chamber for one of said diaphragm mechanisms, said one of said diaphragm mechanisms serving as 'a gauging diaphragm and the other as a cycling diaphragm, gauging and cycling valves connected respectively with said gauging and cycling diaphragms for supplying compressed air thereto, operating mechanism for said valves including a snap acting device operable from valve closing to valve opening position upon predetermined reduction of air pressure in said tire hose eiecting movement of said gauging diaphragm, stop means for said operating mechanism, a tire hose supporting hook, and an oper-y ative connection between said hook and said stop means to render the stop means eiective when `the tire hose is' placed on the hook and to render the stop means inelective when the tire hose is removed from the hook.

6. Tire ination apparatus comprising a pair porting hook, and an operative connection between said hook and said stop means to render the stop means effective when the tire hose `is supported on thejhook and to render the stop means ineffective to stop said snap acting device` in the position it assumes prior to closure of said valve when said tire hose is removed from said hook.

JOHN J. ROTHWELL. 

